AT THE recent Annual Town Meeting arranged by Hedon Town Council, Councillor Gordon Thurston gave a report reviewing the work of the council’s Finance & General Purposes (F&GP) committee. We cover some of the highlights of his report here and will be covering other reports from the Town Meeting later this week:
One of the key roles of the committee is to authorise payments by the council and to review and oversee the financial management of the council’s affairs. It also maintains the council’s asset register.
The committee also oversees and receives reports from the council’s working groups which this year have included project groups on Events and a Local Transport amongst others.
The Events working group aims to increase the number of community events in the town and participation in these. To date the group had published the Hedon 2014 calendar, organised a coach trip to York Railway Museum and staged a baking competition. It was currently planning a Family Treasure Hunt, a Walk around Hedon’s History and the Hedon in Bloom competition amongst other initiatives.
The Local Transport working group was investigating the feasibility of operating a heavily subsidised transport service around Hedon with the aim of encouraging residents to use it – rather than their own vehicles – for journeys around town. The aim was to find solutions to the problems associated with maintaining a reasonable flow of traffic and parking facilities in Hedon.
During his report Cllr Thurston made reference to a F&GP request to the East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC) to consider a new pedestrian crossing on New Road in the Farrand Road/Westlands area. He reported that the request is receiving positive attention from the East Riding Council.
Another successful request for action from the F&GP to the ERYC was to improve the Bus Stop on New Road. A destroyed and muddy verge was replaced with a hard standing; this despite ERYC saying initially that nothing could be done to improve the situation at the bus stop.
The F&GP also ensures that the council’s newsletter is published in the Holderness Heartbeat on a regular basis.
The committee has attempted to contact those responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of buildings in the town centre to encourage improvements in building appearance – with some success!
Vehicle parking continues to occupy the attention of the F&GP on a regular basis with a whole raft of measures being considered to improve matters in the town.
The above is only a summary of the comprehensive report given by Cllr Thurston based on observation at the Annual Town Meeting on 17th April 2014 and should not be treated as any official record of decisions taken by Hedon Town Council.
Photo: Events working group members Councillors Sarah Rommell, Di Storr, David Thompson and Gordon Thurston.
